Welcome to my blog. I live in the beautiful Forest of Bowland and get to spend a lot of time outside as part of my work. I hope you will agree it's a lovely place to be and maybe come and visit the area.
My website is www.elizabeth-mills.co.uk

Friday, 8 April 2011

Redpolls and Swallows

We seem to have lost the pair of nuthatches that were visiting the birdtable but gained a flock of around ten Goldfinches and two Redpolls. The Goldfinches are very noisy and aggressive with each other and the poor Blue Tits who keep getting pecked when they land to feed. The Great Tits see the Goldfinches off though so they still get a chance to feed. I've been sowing some flowers that I hope will encourage bees, hoverflies, butterflies and moths in the garden. I grew Phacelia tanacetifolia last year and it was a great success with the bees and hoverflies. I've also sown Nemesia, Nicotiana affinis (night moths), Verbena bonariensis and Soapwort. We saw our first Swallow flying over the house yesterday - wonderful. The cats seem to have got the hang of removing the top saucer off the hedgehog food, so I made a feeding box recommended on the Hedgehog Preservation Society website. Unfortunately the cats lie down and reach in even with bricks placed five inches in front as suggested. I will try putting a saucer over the food in the box and see if that helps. The watercolour painting I finished today shows a pair of toads in amplexus and shows how tight a grip the male has on the female and how much bigger females are. The lamb picture was just cute.

(Dendrocopos major)

About Me

I live in Cow Ark close to Browsholme Hall in the Forest of Bowland, Lancashire and I am a wildlife Artist. I also paint portraits of Horses and pets. As you can probably tell from my blog I'm really interested in Natural History and love living in the Forest of Bowland.
My website is www.elizabeth-mills.co.uk